Harbor Fire Department honors firefighters

Harbor Fire Department volunteers gathered Saturday for a luncheon and received awards for 2013 in the Best Western Beachfront Inn conference room.

Awards were given by Chief John Brazil for six awards, including Above and Beyond the Call of Duty, an award created in memory of late longtime Fire Chief Frank Kelley.

Receiving the Rookie of the Year award was Kimberly Hodges Stowe, who started with the department in mid-2013 and had responded to 74 calls.

Having served nearly two years, David Rice received the award for Most Improved. During his career, Rice responded to 272 calls, 159 of those in 2013.

Joshua Frame was given the Medical Assistant for 2013 award. Brazil said one of the jobs of the fire department is to serve as a first responder during a medical call when the ambulance is not available. Volunteers also provide someone to ride along in the ambulance when help is needed. This take a lot of time for a volunteer when they have to ride a half-hour to Gold Beach or Crescent City, and then have to wait to ride back.

Frame rode along with Cal-Ore Life Flight 17 times during the year, Brazil said. Frame has volunteered with the department for one and one half years and has been on 308 calls, 236 of those in 2013. He was also top responder for four months of the year.

Firefighter of the Year was awarded to Steve Lewis, who was the top responder for six months in 2013. During his 18 months of service, he has responded to 355 calls, 241 were last year. He also took the time to pass the test and meet the requirements for Firefighter I classification.

Officer of the Year was presented to Lt. Michael Kammeier, who has responded to 648 calls during his nearly five years of service. In 2013, he responded to 197 calls.

Having her name placed on the Above and Beyond the Call of Duty plaque was Dalena Bridgeford, who has been with the department for more than three years.

The year was the busiest in the history of the department. A total of 326 calls were received, Brazil said — many were mutual aid calls assisting other fire departments, the ambulance service and police by helping with traffic control.

Volunteers who are trained for “being prepared to help other at all times,” Brazil said, take time from their work days, families and activities to help with fire prevention and training, not just responding to calls.

“Structure fires are minimal numbers in the overall scheme of things,” Brazil said.